


How Do You Know Him Again?

by BabyGenius



Series: A Bat in A White Collar [9]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, White Collar
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Diana Berrigan Knows All, Dick Grayson is Neal Caffrey, Fluff, Gen, Humor, I still have no clue how to tag, Identity Reveal, Neal Caffrey is Dick Grayson, Reveal, i tried okay, the one you’ve all been waiting for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:00:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26432314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BabyGenius/pseuds/BabyGenius
Summary: “In other words, you’re making up reasons until we’re both in the office at the same time?” Neal asked, snorting. Paterson glared at him playfully before returning to her paperwork, prompting Neal to do the same.…Neal missed him the next day too.…And they were out of excuses, so Wayne was not required to show up to the office again any time soon.— —Or: the one you’ve all been waiting for! Bruce finally visits the office and we get the reveal!
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne, Peter Burke & Neal Caffrey
Series: A Bat in A White Collar [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1790395
Comments: 96
Kudos: 460





	1. Can You Two Just Meet Already So We Can Figure Out How You’re Related

**Author's Note:**

> The one you’ve all been waiting for! I hope y’all have fun with this one!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! Sorry this took so long. I tried to publish earlier but my wifi has been really shitty the past three days so here’s hoping it works this time. It looks like the updating every other week is going to become a thing. School isn’t horrible, but I still have a decent workload and stuff going on.
> 
> This one isn’t my favorite, and I feel like it could have been better. I also just think that there was such a big lead up and hype for this one, that if it’s anything less than perfect I feel it would be a let down. I tried to give appropriate reactions in-keeping with their characters, while also getting the added drama I know you all want.
> 
> The next chapter of Chairs and Buckets is in the works, but it’s very slow going. Which is fine, because I originally intended it as a one-shot so it works without. I have a few other Merlin prompts I wanna do, so if you’re in the fandom be on the lookout for that.
> 
> Also, I published a Star Trek thing! It’s a Tarsus fic, and is technically in the alternate movie series, but if you ignore a few lines it could be from the original series. I was trying out a new writing style, so tell me what you think (there’s nothing really graphic in it, since it’s a more detached style, I think).
> 
> And did you guys see the Julie and the Phantoms show?! I binged that in a day and it was fantastic. If I spoke Portuguese I would watch the original Brazilian one, but I don’t. I have so many feelings and I really wanna talk about it with someone (and the soundtrack is fantastic I’m listening to it right now). Hmu on my tumblr @blerghfish to talk about it, or anything else, whether it be my stories or something else. I’m here for all of you, and I’ve been told I’m a good listener. (I may or may not have some ideas for a jatp fanfic, so....hehe.)
> 
> If you read through this entire thing, good job and thank you! Now, onto reading, I hope you like it!

The office was abuzz with…something. Dick might call it an excited energy, but that wasn’t quite right. No matter how hard he looked, though, he couldn’t figure out what the cause was. He’d already hacked the servers to see if anyone special was coming, but no higher up was scheduled (though that’s not to say that it could have just not been put on the schedule), and everyone refused to tell him who it was.

The only one who had actually taken the time to somewhat respond was Diana, and she had just smirked, a twinkle in her eyes, and said, “You’ll see. It’s someone you know, I think.” _Gee, thanks for the help, Diana._

He couldn’t, for the life of him, figure out why anybody he knew was causing such excitement. The only thing he’d been able to gather from whispered conversations was that they were male.

Peter walked up to Neal, a scowl on his face, and pointed a finger at him. “Our guest will be arriving shortly, and I want you on your _best_ behavior, understand?”

Neal nodded, his lips twitching up even as his eyebrows furrowed. “Who exactly is this guest? No one will tell me.”

Peter allowed the scowl to be replaced by a grin. “You’ll see. He’s notorious for being something of an airhead though, so I’m going to make you suffer with me.”

Neal sighed. Great. Stupid people were so exhausting for those around them. As he thought this, though, a thought niggled at the back of his head. What was it? He had a feeling he should know something…

Unfortunately (or fortunately, since they were supposedly an airhead), Neal wasn’t there for the arrival of the mysterious man. Instead, he was out on a coffee run and to pick up lunch for the others. All of Peter’s posturing about forcing Neal to suffer stupidity with him, and he was sent out before it happened. Looked like he was lucky.

….

He was still dying of curiosity though.

Who was it?

The man didn’t even turn part of his face in the direction of the cameras and all Neal could ever see was his back on the hacked security footage. The way the man stood and his posture was very familiar, tickling the back of Dick’s brain, but he couldn’t for the life of him figure out whom it reminded him of. Evidently, the man had come to be interviewed about his New York office being burgled. The burglars had stolen some very pricey sixteenth century russian art.

Neal flipped a pen between his fingers, a pout on his face. “Come on, why won’t anyone tell me who it is? And anyway, was this person as stupid as you thought he would be?”

Amari snorted, sharing a mischievous look with Paterson. “The dude seemed like a complete and total airhead, but I swear he was a complete sunshine child through and through. It was ridiculous.”

Paterson nodded. “Yeah, I was expecting him to be a total jerk since he’s known as a playboy, but the dude was a complete gentleman.”

Neal threw his head back. That wasn’t very specific! He knew at least two CEOs that were actually gentlemen—wait. Oooohhhh. “It’s Bruce Wayne, isn’t it?”

Blake laughed, a minute twitch of his left eye giving him away. “Why would you think that?”

Neal shrugged. “Someone said that the person was someone I probably knew, so I listened to the clues. The only other person it could’ve been was Oliver, but not many people are aware that I know him, so Bruce was the first logical option. I’m a little embarrassed it took me so long.”

“That what took so long?” Peter asked, walking up to the discussion, a mug of the FBI’s less than subpar coffee in his hand. Not that it was worse than the BPD’s, but it was up there.

“Figuring our who the mysterious visitor was.”

Peter nodded, making a silent ‘ah’, of understanding with his mouth. “So what’s your relationship with him, then?”

Neal shook his head, a smirk firmly fixed in place and his arms crossed as he leaned back in his chair. “Nope. People who keep secrets don’t get to find out before I see him again.”

“Well he’s coming in again tomorrow, so we’ll find out then, right?” Amari said hopefully. She was sitting on a nearby desk, her legs swinging in the air.

Paterson snorted. “Yeah, as if we wanna wait that long to find out.”

Neal’s expression just grew more smug. He turned his attention back to Peter. “So what’s this about a burglary?”

The other agents dispersed grumpily as Peter explained that the New York branch of Wayne Tech had been burgled, several pieces of priceless art having gone missing.

“Which pieces?”

Peter listed about four items, the names of which caused Neal to chuckle. “What, do you know who it is?” Peter asked in annoyance, taking a sip from his mug and grimacing at it in distaste.

Neal shrugged. “I don’t know, do I?”

“Don’t you want to help Wayne get his art back?”

Neal just gave a noncommittal shrug, his eyes twinkling.

The next day, Neal was sent with Jones to pick up some evidence from the local PD, since the FBI was taking over the case. The two agents who were working the case were too busy to pick up the evidence, so it fell to Neal. By the time they got back to the office, evidence in tow, Neal looked around at everyone’s frustrated faces and laughed. “I missed him again, didn’t I?”

Amari nodded petulantly while Paterson patted her on the back in attempted comfort.

Blake glared at him. “This is the second time! Can’t you just tell us?” He whined.

Neal shook his head, walking over to Nichols desk and dropping the retrieved evidence box on it. “Nope, that would spoil the fun.”

Diana smirked from her desk, spinning halfway around in her chair. “What do you want to bet you’ll miss him again tomorrow?”

Neal glanced around her in surprise before smiling. “I don’t trust my luck enough to take that bet. Besides, why does he have to come in so much?”

Paterson waved a hand in the air half-heartedly. “Oh, y’know, just new evidence and reports and…stuff.”

“In other words, you’re making up reasons until we’re both in the office at the same time?” Neal asked, snorting. Paterson glared at him playfully before returning to her paperwork, prompting Neal to do the same.

…

Neal missed him the next day too.

…

And they were out of excuses, so Wayne was not required to show up to the office again any time soon.

A couple days passed before, during a lazy period, McSweeten threw up his hands, his pen clattering to his desk and interrupting what had been a tranquil lack of noise. He hadn’t participated in the Wayne drama so far because he and his partner, Taggert, had been wrapped up in a case involving a middle school for rich kids. “I can’t take it anymore! What’s your relationship with Wayne?”

Neal chuckled before returning to his paperwork, not bothering to answer.

Paterson scowled but turned back to her work, they would figure out eventually.

Eventually came two days later, when the man walked into the office ten minutes before the lunch break. He came to a stop in front of Neal’s desk. Everyone tried to subtly listen in while looking like they were doing something else. “Are you ready?”

The agents couldn’t tell if the voice he used was disarming or spine-chilling. When Brucie Wayne had visited the office days earlier his voice had been happy as cheerful, and his body language open. Now, it was still relaxed, with a slight line of tension running beneath. When asked later, the agents wouldn’t be able to tell what the difference in his voice was, but it wasn’t very comforting.

Still, Neal grinned at him, looking down at the paper and drawing various shapes before holding it up. “I think this could work for a wedding invite, B.”

Bruce looked down at it while the office waited with baited breath. The right corner of his lip twitched so minutely that some thought they had hallucinated it. “We haven’t been able to find a good template.”

Dick could hear the underlying message. _It looks good_. He folds it into a card-sized piece before letting it vanish somewhere onto his person. “Just let me give a file to Peter since I finished something.”

“Our reservations are for twelve thirty.” _Hurry up_.

“Yeah, yeah.”

When Dick returned from Peter’s office, it was with Peter following. He looked at Bruce, an eyebrow slightly raised. “How do you know Neal, he never told us?”

“I helped him out of a bad situation when he was younger.”

Neal snorted, attempting to disguise it as a cough and failing. “Bruce and I have lunch reservations, and it’s about time for my lunch break.”

Peter gave a hum, his arms crossed. “Fine. I can’t stop you. Go have fun.”

Dick smiled at him. “Awesome, see ya.” He followed the billionaire out of the office, the rest of the agents staring after them as if trying to solve a puzzle.

“Oh, honestly!” Diana finally cried, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Is this all you’ve got? You’re federal investigative agents how have you not figured it out by now?”

Peter glared at her. “If you have it figure out, why don’t you just tell us?”

“Well, there’s Bruce Wayne, Neal, whose name is actually Dick, Jason Todd, who they thought was dead, Damian, and Tim, who’s set to become CEO. How are those names connected? It was only national news for a year, at least.”

Peter’s eyes widened. “ _Oh_.”

“What?” Blake demanded. “What’ve you figured out?”

Peter didn’t answer, only turned on his heel and went up to Hughes’ office.

Neal and Bruce got back to the office only a few minutes after Neal’s lunch break was technically over. Peter was waiting, sitting on top of Neal’s desk. “You forgot to mention that Bruce Wayne was your guardian.”

Neal shrugged as the rest of the office gaped, looking at each other. “I knew you’d figure it out eventually. It’s not like I kept it much of a secret after Jason’s visit.”

“Wait, Bruce Wayne is your father?!” Nichols sputtered, his arms flailing and a pen falling to the floor. “How did we not know this?”

“You only need to be able to perform basic research to put the pieces together.” Bruce’s voice was almost completely monotone, but everyone knew he was insulting their skills.

“Not helpful, B. Besides, we made it pretty difficult, so it’s not necessarily their fault.”

“Why on Earth would the ward of a billionaire become an art thief? You have all the money you could need!” Amari twirled in her seat, tapping her pen against her forearm as she pinned him with a searching gaze.

“There’s a reason for that, actually, but I can’t tell you. Also, _alleged_ art thief.” Neal crossed his arms, plopping down in his seat.

“I’ll see you in two weeks to make sure your tux still fits.” Bruce’s eyes briefly softened.

Neal sighed in disgust. “Ugh. How many board members are going to be there?”

“Enough that you’ll need to remember how to be civilized.”

Neal gasped in faux-offense. “I think you meant that for Jason, not me.”

“Jason doesn’t need to, he’s legally dead.”

“I was too!”

Bruce pinned him with a look as they seemed to continue their conversation with their eyes. Bruce cleared his throat. “Alright, Alfred is waiting. I will see you in two weeks.”

“Love you too, B. Bye.”

“Wait what about the wedding invitation? You never gave it to Mr. Wayne?” Paterson asked, leaning on her forearms.

Neal smirked. “Didn’t I?”

Bruce walked out of the office, holding a card-sized piece of paper up in one of his hands before moving out of sight.

Paterson just sighed. “I shouldn’t be surprised by now.”

The rest of the office turned to the work they had been neglecting, but Peter pulled Neal aside. “I hope that tux fitting will be within your radius.”

Neal grimaced. “Yeah, there’s actually something I need to talk to you and Hughes about, but first I need to get something from June’s.”

“It’d have to be something pretty solid if it will get you out of needing a radius like I think you’re implying,” Peter warned.

“It is, don’t worry. It is.”

* * *

”It was Selena who stole the art, wasn’t it?”

Bruce heaved a long-suffering sigh. “Yes, it was.”

”Why would you call the FBI, then?”

”I didn’t, it was Campbell.”

”Ah, the board asshole.”

”Yep.”

”Do you want me to give him one of my computer viruses?”

”No, then he’ll just bully a poor IT worker to fix it.”

”Fine.”


	2. So Why Do You Think We’ll Just Let You Go?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I am so sorry this took so long. But I swear, Jatp has sucked me in like you would not believe.
> 
> On top of that, I have some sad news. There is one more work in this series before it is done, and it’s a multichap. My plot muse has run dry for now and I am working on a multichap for Jatp, which is going to take precedence because I already have a lot of that planned out. I’m also in Scotland, and on top of sight-seeing stuff and schoolwork I can’t promise that I’ll be able to update. Therefore, the sad news is this: this series is going on hiatus until December 20th. 
> 
> I will be using these two and a half months to figure out plot, to maybe work on it a bit, and to relax and get school under control. I am so, so sorry guys! You’ve all been so supportive, and I cannot tell you how much I appreciate that!
> 
> I will still be writing, just not for this fandom. I’ve already published two works for Jatp, have the multichap one in the works (I’m working on chapter three and will post chapter one tomorrow), and another one shot that is basically done and will be posted on Saturday, so if you really like my writing or the fandom then go check it out!
> 
> Have fun with this second part, because I did!

Hughes, Peter, and Neal—Dick—were in the conference room, all sitting in the front three seats. Dick was leaned back, a nondescript box in front of him, small and dulled mahogany.

Hughes sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, his eyes shut. “So why exactly are we here, Caffrey? Or should I call you Wayne?”

Dick shook his head. “I never took Bruce’s last name since I’m technically only a ward, so Grayson or Caffrey is fine. Grayson-Wayne if you want to be ridiculously formal.”

Peter sighed, shooting Dick a look. “Not the point, Dick.”

Dick shrugged, a small smile on his face. At least no one could say he didn’t try to break the tension, so thick you’d have to saw for a few minutes to get through it. He leaned forward and pushed the box to Hughes and Peter, nodding toward it and sitting back with his arms crossed.

Hughes gave him a wary glance before opening the box. He picked up the object on top, a shiny badge. “What is this?”

“It’s a badge.”

Hughes passed the shiny piece of metal to Peter, who scrutinized it with narrowed, suspicious eyes. “This looks like a detective badge. For BPD?” He looked up at Dick. “Why would you forge a detective’s badge?”

Dick shook his head. “I didn’t forge it, it’s genuine. For the Blüdhaven PD. I was a detective on the force for a few years.”

Peter shook his head, setting the badge down and steepling his fingers. “Briefly ignoring the impossibility of you being in law-enforcement, dirty cops exist. Maybe you were one.”

Dick shook his head. “It’s true that Blüdhaven was full of them, since they hadn’t had their own team of Batman and Commissioner Gordon to come clean it up, but I wasn’t one of them. You can ask my partner. She’s the most straight-laced one in the precinct, and she’s police chief now. The corruption was cut down by half within our first year together, and now it’s almost nonexistent.”

“And just who is this partner?” Hughes asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Amy Griffin. I can give her a call if you want, put her on speaker.”

Peter raised a skeptical brow, but motioned with his head for Dick to call her. He pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts for a second before pulling up her name and pressing the button for a video call. It rang for a few seconds before a gruff-sounding woman picked up, her face off screen.

“What’s up, Probie?”

Dick chose to ignore the teasing smirk on Peter’s face as he retorted, “Haven’t been a probie for years, Ames, and you know that.”

“Yeah, but you’ll always be the probie who jumped a chain link fence to me.”

“ _You what_?!” Peter mouthed fiercely, his eyes piercing.

“Yeah, yeah. Listen, I’ve got a couple of federal agents here that need you to prove I was an actual honest cop.”

Amy’s face appeared on screen, her eyes crinkled in concern and her lips pursed. “What’d you get yourself into now, Grayson?”

“Hey!” Dick gasped in faux indignation. “I am offended that you would imply I get into trouble regularly.”

“Yeah, except you know I’m right because you do. Now enough chit-chat. Who are these agents I’m supposed to be meeting?”

Dick turned his phone around to show Peter and Hughes. “On your right is the very Special Agent Peter Burke, and on the left is our boss, Agent Hughes. I’m trying to prove that I was an actual officer of the law, because due to the work I did after I left the precinct they don’t believe me.”

“The work you did after you left? Wasn’t that—oh. Yeah, I can see it now. Well, hello agents. I’m Amy Griffin, the chief of police for Blüdhaven’s twenty-third precinct. If you’ll excuse me for a second, I’m going to look the two of you up, and you can do the same.”

A few minutes passed in silence as the only thing that came over the phone’s speaker was the cracking of computer keys. Dick heard a few grunts and mumbles and Amy read what had come up. Peter had pulled out his phone to see if he could find Chief Griffin online at all, his eyebrows steadily climbing as he read whatever article he had found. He finished reading and looked up right before Amy signaled she was done.

“You guys look legit,” she said, looking at them through the phone. “So yeah, Dick was my partner for about three and a half years, almost four, actually. He was a probie officer for about six months and got his detective badge a year after he joined the precinct. We closed almost all of our cases when we were together. Best cop I knew, though in the beginning I thought he was a bit sketchy.”

Dick made a noise of protest. “That’s only because you thought what the rest of the precinct did. You all thought I bought my way to being a detective.”

Amy shrugged, her phone rising and falling with her. “You’re not wrong, I did. You quickly proved me wrong, however. Anyway, yes, Dick is one hundred percent a legitimate, honest cop. It’s a shame we lost him to the work he left for.”

“You mean thieving and forging?” Hughes, who had been silent up until this point, asked, his arms folded.

Amy gave him an odd look. “What? No. Government work. At least, that’s what he told me.”

“That’s what I’m sticking with because it’s true,” Dick declared.

A flash of understanding crossed through Hughes’ eyes as he gave Dick an assessing look, analyzing him as though he’d never seen him before. Dick winked before focusing on the call again, ignoring Peter’s confusion.

Amy snorted over the phone. “Yeah, yeah, we get it, you’re a fancy ninja.”

“The ninja’s my brother, but sure.”

“Anyway, not all of us have no lives, Dick. I have work I need to get back to.”

Dick stuck his tongue out petulantly even though he wasn’t in view of the camera. “Fine then. I’ll talk to you again soon, alright Griffin?”

“Yeah, yeah. Bye and all that. Don’t get into anymore trouble, Grayson. Burke, I’m trusting you to do your best to keep him out of it.” She pointed a finger at the screen, her eyes narrowed playfully. “I don’t think anyone can successfully do that, ma’am.”

Amy chortled, waving one last time before hanging up. Dick slid his phone into his pocket, looking at Hughes and Peter. “So do you believe me now?”

Peter heaved a long-suffering sigh, looking up at the ceiling in an attempt to be somewhere else. “Yes, I believe you.”

Hughes cleared his throat. “I’ll have to have one of the techs look you up in more detail, but yes, Caff— _Grayson_ , I believe you.” His eyes gained a mischievous smirk. “Who knows, maybe we’ll poach you.”

Dick gaped before smiling brightly. “That sounds like a lot more fun than my current deal.”

“Yes, well, I’d imagine there are a lot of files and background that I’m going to have to access, as well as paperwork, so it might be a while.”

Dick shrugged. “I can be patient when I really need to.”

Peter scoffed as he stood up, clearly the meeting was over.

“What? I can!” Dick protested, spinning in his chair and standing up as well. Peter only raised a skeptical brow before walking out the door. Dick sent a pouting look at Hughes before turning around and following.

Hughes allowed himself a chuckle. “This will be fun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At least I’m not ending on a cliffhanger? Yeah, sorry guys. But I’m not leaving you in suspense so at least there’s that. I hope you all have enjoyed the journey so far, and that you are willing to rejoin me come December, but if not I understand.
> 
> Thank you all for your patience and your support, it’s the only reason we’ve gotten this far! I won’t forget about this series, promise, I just need to figure out plot stuff for the next work, and that will take a bit. 
> 
> Thank you again, everybody!

**Author's Note:**

> So how was it? Even if you don’t have the energy/spoons to leave a huge comment, the kudos button is just a single click! I thrive on positive feedback, and all of you are the reasons I’ve stayed motivated enough to get this far. 
> 
> The next part is probably going to be a multichap, if you’ve been paying attention to the series notes, so here’s hoping that turns out alright. 
> 
> Also, if you want to be updated about the progress of each update before it comes out, then follow my tumblr @blerghfish, coz that’s where I usually post updates and stuff.
> 
> Thanks for reading everybody!
> 
> ...And taking the time to read the author’s note because I keep getting more rambly in each of them without meaning to.


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